I Love You
by Arnold's Crush
Summary: A songfic in which Arnold moves away. How does Helga cope?Read this and you'll find out. R&R Please! ^_^ It's my first songfic.


1 "I Love You"  
  
A songfic by Angela Marcisak  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don not own Hey Arnold or any of its characters, nor do I own "I Love You" by Sarah McLachlan. Enjoy!  
  
A/N: This is my first attempt at a successful songfic. I ask for you to review so I can see what you thought of this, and for some future ideas for perhaps future songfics. Thank you so much!  
  
  
  
"I Love You"  
  
  
  
It was a brisk December evening; although the streets were bare and snow had yet to fall, the scene already looked set for something that no one knew was bound to occur. A small choir of children stood across the street from a lonely girl in a pink dress and a floppy bow atop her blonde pigtails. Carols filled the air with serenity, and the girl sat on the icy sidewalk, a chill sent up her spine. "This jacket isn't helping a BIT," she thought bitterly, her teeth clattering together in unison.  
  
Helga clambered to her feet, pulling on a pair of snug mittens to cover her frostbitten hands. She had finally gotten the item she had been longing for ever since she laid her eyes on them: a bonafide pair of Nancy Spumoni signature snow boots. Pleased with herself, she no longer had to worry about her parents giving her the money; she had found a light job shoveling snow that winter for her neighbor Mr. Penello, and made a considerably large amount of money; enough to buy the pair of boots she had been eyeing for a long time. Well, they hadn't been as much of a trendsetter as they used to be a few years back, but according to the latest issue of Pre-Teen Chic magazine, the boots were still pretty high up on the "What's Hot" list.  
  
"What am I doing here?" Helga wondered to herself. A sudden gust of winter wind rushed past her, causing her flaxen locks to clasp onto her ears. She shivered once again as the breeze finally calmed, and rubbed her frozen face with her mittens in some hope it would warm up soon. Shaking her head, she continued, " It's like someone TOLD me to come here…nah, what a loopy idea…get a hold of yourself, Helga, ol' girl…" She sighed, walking across the street deeply absorbed in her thoughts. Helga, continuing to utter words of unimportance under her frosty breath, arrived at a second street corner. There were yet again clusters of carolers crowding the sidewalk as she glanced over, letting off a tiny smirk.  
  
"I'm gonna miss you guys so much…." Arnold sobbed. He was standing in the center of a large circle, surrounded by the many friends he had. A light reflected a bright gleaming light, which shone off of Arnold's hair and caused Helga to squint from across the street. She, of course, had been unnoticed, yet she pulled a pigtail behind her ear and listened for all she could.  
  
"We'll miss you too, man…we'll miss you too," Gerald added, placing a palm on the shoulder of the kid with the football shaped head. No one else could say a thing; they were too forlorn to mention their sorrow for Arnold's state of affairs. Finally, Phoebe spoke up. "I wish Helga was here to say goodbye," she trembled. Helga jumped at the sound of her name. "Ah! They're talking about me! Better listen up."  
  
"Who would want HELGA to be here?" Gerald spat, an unusual tone of anger arising in his usually suave voice. "All she does is pick on Arnold all the time. If I were you, man," he pointed a finger at the oddly shaped head of his friend, "I wouldn't say a THING to that girl." Helga gasped, trying to keep her voice hush amongst the silence of the moment. She wished nothing more that time than for Gerald to keep his mouth shut. She felt angered at what he had said, yet it only desired her more and more to figure out what they were all talking about in the first place.  
  
The group agreed in unison, slightly nodding their heads and rubbing their puffy red eyes free of tears previously fallen. They all briefly embraced the poor football headed kid, some starting to cry again while others simply stood there waiting for Arnold to say something. He began to speak. "You're right, Gerald…she's treated me like dirt all these years…why SHOULD I tell her I'm moving away? She'd probably be very happy about it." A crystal tear rolled down his inflamed cheek; he rubbed it away and continued. "I'm still gonna miss all you guys. You've been like family to me…I'll never forget you." Arnold, unable to hold back his tears, ran from the center of the circle, leaving a trail of teardrops behind him.  
  
Helga's eyes filled with tears as well, but she had the strength to hold them back for a while. Arnold's words echoed in her head as she watched the lone gang stand still under the dimly lit lamppost. "Why SHOULD I tell her I'm moving away? Moving away…she'd probably be very happy about it…. she'd probably be very happy about it…happy about it…" Helga's face crinkled up in a serious frown, a tear already rolling down the side of her face. "ARNOLD!" she shouted, running as fast as her signature snow boots could carry her. She raced past the crowd of kids as they stared at her, determined to find her beloved, the boy she had longed to share her deepest secret with since…well, since forever. She disappeared down the street. As her breath became less and she slowed to a jog, she glanced around, locking on to an old wooden sign that read "Hillwood City Park". "Bingo," she thought.  
  
  
  
"Ar-NOLD!" Helga screamed at the top of her very lungs. She ran along every path she could find that evening, yet it was no use. She couldn't find him anywhere, despite her and Arnold knew the park inside and out since their early childhood days. It was strangely odd that he was nowhere to be found; "He wasn't exactly the best at hide-and-seek," Helga vividly remembered, tracing back to her preschool moments.  
  
~FLASHBACK~  
  
"Seven…nine…eight…oh, wait!" the young girl in the shining pink overalls corrected herself. "Seven…eight…nine…TEN! Ready or not, here I come!" Helga ran excitedly across the playground. Already she could spot her young beloved's odd-shaped head sticking out from behind an oak tree planted at the edge of the playground. She smiled assuring to herself, and innocently skipped across the flat top. To her misfortune, a rock stood blindly in her way; she tripped over the pebble and fell flat on her front.  
  
"Ouch!" she cried, examining her knee. A small stream of blood trickled down the side of her leg as a deep cut was visibly etched into her pale peach-colored skin. "My leg…" she uttered soft and helplessly, tears streaming down her little face.  
  
Arnold's mischievous face turned to one of sadness and concern. He no longer cared for the sport of the game he had been playing, but now for Helga's wound; he hurried over to where she was sitting. "Helga…are you okay?" he inquired. She sniffed, her tear-stained face turning from a look of distress to one of anger. "Do I look like I'm okay, geek bait?" she shot back, rubbing her swollen eyes. He stepped back a little, surprised at the anger in Helga's voice. "I'm gonna go get help, okay Helga?" he smiled a little, running towards the preschool door and pushing it open. Helga, confused by Arnold's act of kindness, smiled with a sigh, resting her head on the dingy gray pavement.  
  
  
  
~END FLASHBACK~  
  
Helga frowned for a moment, sitting down with a sigh on a nearby park bench. It made her absolutely puzzled as to why Arnold was always so nice to her all the time, and even then in fourth grade when she treated the poor boy like the ground she stepped on. Which was the truth. She DID step on him all the time, and yet, his kind deeds continued. Why was he always so patient and giving, kind and caring when she treated him like a pile of garbage? She still hadn't known the answer.  
  
She jumped up in surprise when a snowflake fell on the tip of her nose. Moments later, many fell. They scattered the lonely air with their presence, covering the soil with ivory white. It was all so beautiful to Helga; yet it reminded her of something. She felt as something was missing from her life, she needed something…something…like the way those snowflakes scattered the lonely air with their presence; they meant something to her. Perhaps she had been the air. But then…she knew what was missing. The snowflakes…  
  
She began to sing.  
  
" I have a smile stretched from ear to ear  
  
To see you walking down the road  
  
We meet at the lights  
  
I stare for a while  
  
The world around us disappears  
  
It's just you and me on my island of hope  
  
1.1 A breath between us could be miles  
  
1.2 Let me surround you, my sea to your shore  
  
1.3 Let me be the calm you seek  
  
Oh, and every time I'm close to you  
  
There's too much I can't say  
  
And you just walk away  
  
And I forgot to tell you  
  
I love you  
  
And the night's too long and cold here without you  
  
I grieve in my condition for I cannot find the words to say I need you so…"  
  
Helga stopped for a moment, sinking down on the park bench with an icy sigh. "Please don't go…" she muttered softly, looking to the snowy skies above her. She had not a clue who was sitting next to a tall oak tree nearby—Arnold.  
  
He sat with a mystified expression on his face. "She has a really nice voice," he thought to himself, smiling a little. "Who is she talking about? I don't think I've heard her express herself this much before…" He looked around at the neighboring scenery; it was so beautiful to him. He loved the snowflakes a lot. How they scattered the lonely air with their presence, covering the soil with ivory white…it almost reminded him of someone…  
  
He heard Helga continue to sing.  
  
"Oh and every time I'm close to you  
  
There's too much I can't say  
  
And you just walk away  
  
And I forgot to tell you  
  
I love you  
  
1.4  
  
1.5 And the night's too long and cold here without you  
  
I grieve in my condition for I cannot find the words to say I need you so…"  
  
Helga couldn't take the pain any longer, from knowing her beloved Arnold was moving away to who knows where. It severed her heart like a rusty metal blade to know she would probably never see him again…and to know he would be happy because of that. She wiped the tears that poured down her cheeks, and without another word to declare her sadness, got up and ran down the cement path to the entrance of the park.  
  
"Helga, wait!" Arnold shouted. He got up and ran as fast as his legs could carry him, seeing Helga was a fast runner ever since she had joined the track team that year. He was having a hard time spotting Helga; the snow got caught in his eyes while he ran, and the ice forming on the path wasn't helping a bit. He heard a scream. "Helga," he thought. Arnold finally caught up to her. She was sitting on a puddle of ice near the entrance, holding her knee with both palms.  
  
"Helga…are you okay?" Arnold asked worriedly. He reached out a hand, pulling her up from the icy grounds. He spotted her knee; it was covered in blood. He looked questioningly back up at her.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine…" she said, turning away. Arnold turned her back around, beginning to speak. "I…um…heard you singing…" he said, wistfully looking her in the eye. "You did?" Helga replied softly, shocking Arnold a little. He expected her to scream in his face, but to his fortune and surprise, she didn't. "Yeah," he continued," You're…you…have a nice voice." Helga smirked a little, shrugging her shoulders. "Uh…thanks." Arnold looked down at the ground, digging a heel into the pallid walkway.  
  
"So…you're moving away, huh?" Helga started, changing the subject momentarily. Arnold nodded, a little confused. "How did you know? I thought…" Helga stopped him. "I heard you talking to the gang about it…" Arnold nodded again silently. "I…don't mean to be nosy, but…" he began. "But what?" Helga asked. Arnold continued," Who was that song about?"  
  
Helga bit her lip, turning her head away. "I can't tell you." "Why not?" Arnold asked. "Because I just can't, that's all. Okay?" she shot back, a look of hurt and longing spread across her face. Her hair fell to her shoulders from the frustration she had been going through that time. A blonde bang covered an eye, her bright yellow locks wavy in such a style that Arnold swore he saw before. He gasped, Helga's face turned blank. "Cecile?" Arnold inquired, a look of utter shock clasping to his pale face.  
  
Helga stood still, staring into her beloved's surprised face. She couldn't believe herself. Arnold now knew she was Cecile. "This is the last time I'll probably see Arnold," she thought to herself. "Now's the time, Helga…don't hold anything back…" A tear rolled down her frostbitten cheek as she started to speak. "I forgot to tell you…I love you…" She pulled Arnold into her arms, kissing him deeply with all the love she had in the world; all the love she had since the first time she laid eyes on Arnold, the football-headed object of her desire. She kissed him with every drop of tear she had cried over the years, yearning for him to return the affection she had for him all along.  
  
  
  
And all the while, even though he couldn't explain the fluttering feeling building in his stomach, even though he didn't have a clue, and even though he couldn't explain why…  
  
  
  
Arnold kissed back.  
  
  
  
~END~  
  
A/N: Did you like this fic? I hope so. Sorry if the ending was too short for you, but I wanted to leave open possibilities for all of you who read it. Just let me know in a review what you thought; I hope it didn't suck to you. Well, thanks a lot for reading! I'll try to hurry it up with the next chapter of "O Arnold, Where Art Thou?" as soon as I can.  
  
-Arnold's Crush 


End file.
